


A Good Year

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Malcolm Bright Gets a Hug, Post-Episode: s01e11 Alone Time, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23023435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Gil wasn’t expecting this New Year’s day to go quite like this but he’s grateful for it.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 49
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	A Good Year

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it 
> 
> **Notes:** written for withasmile87 in comment_fic for the prompt of Prodigal Son, any, New Year's Day.

As much as he admired and was grateful for hospital workers, Gil hated hospitals themselves. The smell of them, the pent-up anguish, the pain and sickness, it all weighed on him. It wasn’t where he wanted to spend New Year’s day but he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at the moment. He dragged down the hall, dreading this. Hearing sharp footfalls behind him, not the soft soled shoes of a nurse, Gil turned. He summoned up a weak smile for Jessica.

“I knew you’d be here, Gil,” she said, smiling back. She must be in a forgiving mood today. Ever since Malcolm had nearly bled out stopping Watkins, Jessica vacillated between grateful to have Gil there to lean on and furious for ‘getting Malcolm into this mess in the first place.’ It hurt that she thought that. It hurt more that she was partially right. Malcolm shouldered some blame too but he suffered enough for his bad decisions. Gil bore up to her flip-flopping moods because he knew they were born out of fear and panic. She might not survive losing her son and she had nearly lost both children and her own life that night.

“I hate thinking about him here alone.”

She reached out a hand to him and Gil took it, giving it a squeeze. This was new territory for him. The last time he had spent any time with Jessica, before she had cut him and Jackie off infuriated that Malcolm had gone to Quantico, he had still been married. Martin’s salacious and jealous commentary echoed in his mind. Martin had been off the mark but there was something different about their relationship now. “Well we’re here. Ainsley was feeling a little better with her concussion last night but I kept her in. I told her it was okay to go to her friend’s today. Nikki is rather a reserved girl but a nice quiet day of food and watching movies might do Ainsley some good.”

“I’m sure it will. How are _you_ doing, Jess?”

She made a face. “I’m fine, knowing he’s out of danger. I’m horrible because my son was held and tortured in a secret hidey-hole in _my_ family home.” Her eyes welled up but she got control of herself. “I’m devastated because now I know that monster had been using that passage to talk to my daughter when she was a child, that he could have been spying on me all along and I have to face that not only was my husband murdering people, he literally could have gone from telling our kids bedtime stories, to that space, killed someone and then come upstairs to our bed. How do I deal with that?”

He shook his head. “I have no idea, Jess. I have no words that will help.” He couldn’t even truly imagine how she felt or how Malcolm was feeling because he knew that Bright was dealing with all this plus the torture he’d gone through.

She squeezed his hand before letting go. “It’s okay. I don’t expect you to. I just needed to vent before I go in there. I don’t want him to see me upset because Malcolm will feel like he has to fix it.”

“I know.” Gil started back to Malcolm’s hospital room but paused at the door hearing a voice he hadn’t expected. He peeked in to see Dani sitting next to Malcolm’s bed. Malcolm had the head of the bed sat up and he was actually smiling at whatever it was Dani was telling him. The dark soft pajamas Jessica had brought him made Malcolm seem even paler but he had lost so much blood Gil knew it would be a while before he regained any color. Gil stepped into the room, working up a smile for them. “Hello, happy New Year’s.”

Dani’s head snapped up. “Oh, hey, Gil, Mrs. Whitly.”

“Detective Powell, how nice to see you.” Jessica looked between Dani and Malcolm, smiling a bit. Malcolm flushed obviously thinking his mother had leapt to a conclusion.

“Dani, ma’am, and it’s nice to see you.”

“Oh, no, please not ma’am. It makes me feel old. You can call me, Jessica,” she said as Gil brought another chair close to Malcolm’s bed.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Dani,” Gil said.

“She’s keeping me company,” Malcolm said, his voice weak and tired.

“My family went to some cousins in Atlanta but I had to work so I thought it sucks to be in the hospital over the holidays.” She shrugged. “I also brought him a little something.” She nudged the soft sided thermal bag she had on the bed tray.

“Oh?” Jessica asked as Gil took a seat near the window.

“Where I grew up we had several Italian neighbors, including a really sweet little old lady, Mrs. Amoretto. She always made lentil soup for New Year’s because lentils look like little coins and it’s supposed to be good luck. Sometimes her family wouldn’t show up and she’d be so sad but then she would invite us over and really became part of our family.” Dani paused, her eyebrows lifting as if she were shocked she had revealed so much. “Anyhow I thought Malcolm might like something other than hospital food and I know you eat soup and candy.”

Malcolm ducked his head shyly as Gil and Jessica both stifled laughs. Jessica patted her son’s hand. “She knows you well, son.”

“I appreciate the thought,” Malcolm said, eyeing the thermal bag dubiously.

“And I checked with the nurses. They said it would be fine for you to have it.” Dani reached into the bag and pulled out a little red velvet bag. “Also, I brought candy, a Peppermint Pig, which you break and eat for luck over the end of the year holidays.”

“I do like peppermint.” Malcolm squirmed on the bed, trying to get out from under the covers. 

“What are you doing, son?”

He pointed to the bathroom as he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. Malcolm paused taking a deep breath in, putting his good hand on his stitched up side. Gil stood back up and helped him, stand. He tried not to look at Malcolm’s damaged hand which was in a brace that allowed the stitches where they had to put the pieces of bone together with a plate to be free without a cast rubbing them. They said once the stitches were out they’d recast the hand to be sure the fusion held. Gil hated to think of Malcolm having to pound his own hand into mush to get it free of the handcuffs. Malcolm leaned on him as he shuffled to the restroom.

While he took care of his business, Dani put the small bowl of still warm soup on the tray and put some pink hunks of candy on a napkin.

“That doesn’t look like a pig,” Jessica said.

“You have to smash the pig with a hammer,” Dani said softly. “I did it before I came because I didn’t think it would be a great idea to do that in front of Malcolm all things considered.”

Gil rest a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her. “Thank you for being here, Dani. I know he appreciates the company.”

“I know he’s bored and wants out of here but he knows he’s not ready.”

“He’s not. He’s pretty unsteady on his feet,” he replied. 

“I brought him some books too. Hope he likes urban fantasy.” Dani grinned.

“He’ll read almost anything,” Jessica said.

Malcolm reappeared. Gil helped him back into bed and Dani handed him a spoon. 

“If I knew everyone would be here right now, I’d have brought more soup but it’s a good thing because I also brought a game to help with the boredom,” Dani said.

Malcolm tasted the lentils. “This is very good. Thank you. What kind of game?”

“Just a deck of cards but with four of us I was thinking a little poker if you know how to play.”

Malcolm just gave her a look. “Mother taught Ainsley to do math with Blackjack.”

“Malcolm!” Jessica protested.

“You did! She taught us both poker and Gil and Jackie were ruthless with it.”

Dani laughed. “I can’t wait.”

Malcolm took a bigger bite of lentils. “It’s a better day than I was expecting. Thank you, all of you for coming.”

“Where else would we be?” Jessica asked, brushing his hair back off his face. “You eat up, and then you can have candy and we’ll play…and I don’t think I’ve said that since you were twelve.”

Malcolm snorted. “I think I’ve earned the right to eat my candy when I want.”

“Eat the lentils.” Dani pointed at him. He chuckled but obeyed. 

Gil shook his head. He was lighter of heart now than when he came into the hospital. No one really wanted to be here celebrating but they managed to make it a good day none the less. He was just grateful to have people like this in his life and the man he loved like a son would get to go home soon enough. Gil knew there would be lingering damage but for today he could put that aside and just enjoy what they had been given. It was worthy of celebrating.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Author’s Note** While we canonically only see a cast and no scar later on, the surgeon in me couldn’t suspend my disbelief that far so in this I gave Malcolm a fix appropriate for his injury which at best is a dislocated metacarpal fracture but more likely is also comminuted fracture. Either way they’d need to fixate it with screws because it’s badly out of place (as it would have to be if Malcolm pushed it two inches to get the cuff off).


End file.
